


touch me softly

by jxneun



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Character Death, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Gen, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27718640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jxneun/pseuds/jxneun
Summary: Yamato hated horror movies. He was not a fan of ghost stories, nor did he enjoy the thought of exploring abandoned haunted houses. Even when his dad complained about ghosts at his workplace, Yamato dismissed it. It’s easier to remain blissfully ignorant than constantly live in fear.So, with his luck, he got to witness and be actively part of a paranormal experience. Hooray.
Relationships: Ishida Yamato | Matt Ishida & Yagami Taichi | Tai Kamiya, Ishida Yamato | Matt Ishida/Yagami Taichi | Tai Kamiya
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	touch me softly

It’s Friday the thirteenth, and all Yamato wants to do is scream. 

He’s late to class, his hair is all matted and oily, and he barely managed to wash his face while he was brushing his teeth — just overall nasty, but he has no choice but to run and scurry out the house because otherwise he’ll be late to his exam.

It’s his fault for sleeping in late, especially after a long night of playing with his band and watching the latest episode of his current favorite show. 

Still, he doesn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse, cause in a way it felt worth it, in his own twisted way of rationalizing it, I guess. 

He saw a black cat in the way, ran under a ladder, and stepped on a couple cracks on the sidewalk. He didn’t receive any calls from the hospital stating his mom’s back was broken, nor did he encounter any significant patterns of unlucky numbers of any sort. 

Then, he crashed into the wall and fell flat on his ass in an empty hallway. 

Everything was just a coincidence, right?

Well, to Yamato’s dismay, his short-term sense of composure easily turned into a state of full-blown panic, especially when he realized that he wasn’t alone on his commute to campus, and that there was in fact, someone following him.

Turning on his heel, he steadied himself, with fists raised to prepare himself for what was going to come. 

Gritting his teeth, Yamato’s eyes darted back and forth, and searched for the suspect. 

“ _Come out and face me_ ,” muttered Yamato, with fear and disdain clouding his judgment. 

“ _Hey! Are you o-okay?!_ ” said the brunette, who appeared right beside the blonde with an expression consisting of a mixture of awe and utter confusion.

The last thing that Yamato saw, was the sight of messy caramel brown locks, after the hand that tapped him on the shoulder briefly dissipated upon contact with his flesh. Then, the world faded into black, and he saw nothing but black and white.

Upon regaining his consciousness, Yamato looked around him and found himself in the school infirmary. Maybe he was just imagining or dreaming this, and he just needed to snap out of it. Just a little pinch would get him out of his predicament...

“ _So...where’s my thank you?_ ” interrupted the brunette, who casually floated upside down, with curious eyes. Yamato’s heart lurched out of his chest, with his cerulean eyes bulging out of its sockets.

“ _W-who the hell are you?!_ ” yelled Yamato, holding the thin clinic bedsheet close to his chest, as if it were an effective talisman and offered any protection from the figure before him. Maybe if he pulled out the Buddhist chants Jyou taught him, he could exorcise the thing.

“ _Hey, hey, hey calm down down....The name’s Taichi_!” grinned the ghastly boy, with a toothy grin and a mischievous glint in his eyes. “ _Now, where’s my thank you, blondie? Is that color natural even? Won’t you get in trouble with the teachers?_ ” expectantly retorted the brunette, with his arms crossed at the foot of the bed.

Yamato cleared his throat, still not convinced. His head was throbbing and hurt like hell. He was going to need a couple of painkillers to be able to get this headache under control. It didn’t help that he already felt like utter shit and he had an exam soon. “ _Why should I thank you when you literally knocked me out? Explain yourself! What are you, and what did you do to me?!_ ” interrogated the blonde, narrowing his eyes. 

“ _Okay, okay. Calm down,_ ” responded Taichi. _“I’m not here to hurt you; if anything, you bumped into me! Besides, I brought you to this infirmary, but no one is here right now. I think the nurse is on her lunch break or something,_ ” pouted the boy.

Massaging his temples, Yamato couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was his mind playing a trick on him? Was the boy a mere figment of his imagination? Was this some cruel joke for his past sins or something? He had so many questions, but so little answers. The brunette boy seemed suspicious, so Yamato was not taking any chances... He had to figure out how to get the hell out of there, and find help. His amygdala’s fight-or-flight response was on overdrive, and he all of the sudden understood why his dad was so stressed about ghosts appearing at the station. Obviously, he found the situation to be ridiculous still, but he had a newfound respect since his blood pressure and stress levels were simultaneously rising just from one ghost. Fuck. Was this karma for ignoring his dad’s concerns?

“ _Well, I’m waiting_ ,” sighed the brunette, waving his arms exasperatedly. Yamato looked at him, dumbfounded as ever. He just couldn’t believe that the boy was floating and nonchalantly talking to him... His understanding of spirits were that if you encountered and angered a spirit, it meant that you would be cursed. Even with Yamato’s aggressive behavior and accusatory tone, the brunette seemed sheepish and interacted with him as if he were a regular teenage boy. Yet, the chills and shivers that traveled down his spine were unmistakable, especially after the extremely cold sensation of the boy’s fingers which briefly touched his shoulder in their encounter. It felt like the boy’s wavelength passed through him, piercing his soul. It was an out-of-body experience, and it shook him to his core. The thought made Yamato shudder. 

Mustering the little ounce of strength and courage he had left, Yamato responded, “ _I’m still processing. Just why are you here? How are you even talking to me right now?_ ” feebly said the boy. He pinched himself, since if his mind serves him right, he’s conversing with a ghost from the spirit world and he probably sounds insane talking to himself to anyone in the nearby premises...

Taichi rolled his eyes. “ _Well, I’m talking to you just as I would talk with anyone. In Japanese. Duh,_ ” snarkily said the apparition. “ _Why should I answer your questions when you’ve been blatantly ignoring me?_ ” said the boy, staring at him expectantly with his big doe brown eyes.

Yamato rolled his eyes and mumbled, “ _Fine, thank you...whoever or whatever you are_.”

“ _Taichi! Ta-ich-i! Taichi! Don’t forget my name!_ ” repeated the apparition, frowning. “ _Anyway, you’re welcome. Be more careful next time, otherwise you might bump into another spirit that might not be as friendly!_ ” said the boy, winking before dissipating into thin air with a peace sign raised up. 

Yamato sighed and laid down. Maybe this was all a dream, and rather than try to wake himself up, he could go to sleep and he would then actually wake up. Attempting to close his eyes and go into a deep slumber, Yamato counted sheep and took deep breaths, but nothing seemed to work. When he finally managed to doze off, a familiar voice disrupted the peace of the infirmary room.

“ _Ah! I forgot to mention. Since I did you a favor, now you have to do me a favor,_ ” said the brunette spirit, with an as matter-of-fact tone.

Instantly, he opened his eyes, and jolted out of his fetal position, scrambling off the bed with his limbs splayed out. 

“ _Ouch_ ,” said the spirit, wincing slightly.

“ _WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM_??” shouted Yamato. “ _I nearly had a heart attack with you that close to my face!_ ” with a flushed glow to creeping up on his cheeks.

“ _Heh, is it cause I’m that handsome? I wouldn’t know, since I can’t exactly see myself, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess!_ ” cackled the boy, floating directly above Yamato’s form. Yamato’s disheveled appearance and displeased look delighted the spirit. Regardless, he needed to focus on his goal. “ _But seriously, you owe me. I want you to help me reclaim my things,_ ” continued Taichi.

“ _What do you want me to do? Can’t you use your spirit powers or whatever?_ ” retorted the blonde, dumbfounded that this was all happening and he truly was speaking to a ghost... 

When his dad came home complaining about ghosts at the TV station, Yamato didn’t believe him. That was during middle school; now, as a rising senior in high school, he’s experiencing his first ever true supernatural encounter and he’s not dead yet with his blood spelling out ‘help’ on the pristine walls. 

“ _Well, no. I can only make contact with living things or human beings who seek out the supernatural, or people who especially fear it,_ ” wistfully pondered the spirit, _“...which category do you fit in?”_

“ _Neither! Why are you even talking to me and how is this not a dream_?” spat out the blonde, in clear disarray. He was lying of course, the thought of ghosts gave him the heebie jeebies, so actually seeing and touching one nearly made him shit himself. He was going crazy and this brunette spirit’s inquisitiveness was not helping. 

Why did he seem so real? So human? 

Hell, Taichi was wearing the same school uniform as him, except he actually wore the blazer and sweater vest and everything.

“ _Well, I too was once a human. I’m not quite sure how long ago though, to be quite honest,”_ said Taichi, almost as if he was reading Yamato’s mind at that moment.

Yamato shuddered, and goosebumps littered his arms and legs, with the small hairs pointing up, telling him to get the hell out of there. His fight or flight response was in high alert, but he didn’t even know what type of powers or force that Taichi could use on him to coerce him to do whatever sick deeds the apparition wanted him to do. 

_“I hope you’re not thinking I’m going to do anything weird to you,_ ” huffed the boy, “ _I just want you to get my soccer ball back for me_ ,” said the brunette under his breath, discreetly fidgeting with his shirt.

Frowning, Yamato stammered out a response. “ _What? That’s it? What’s the catch?_ ” said the boy, with a quizzical expression. 

Pursing his lips, the brunette crossed his arms and legs, levitating just slightly above the ground, at eye-level with the blonde. “ _Well, I can’t seem to reclaim my objects by myself. When I try to touch it, my hand or any other limb on my body just goes through the ball. So, since I was able to make contact with you, maybe it’ll be possible for me to touch the ball once you touch it!_ ” excitedly explained Taichi, slowly hovering and now looking upside down at Yamato.

“ _Are you stupid? Have you even done this before_?” bluntly responded Yamato.

“ _Hey! Shut up!_ ” exclaimed Taichi, now sitting upright. Fuming, he continued, “ _It doesn’t hurt to try, right?”_

“ _I mean I guess. I just can’t believe that I got roped into this contract, and all you want is a ball,_ ” said Yamato, in a deadpan tone.

“ _What? Would you rather that I eat your soul for a quick lunch? Gross,”_ said Taichi, sticking his tongue out, gagging at the thought. “ _Anyway, are you going to help me or not?”_

Yamato had to process this. He was talking to an apparition who now wanted his help to get a ball. Was this ghost secretly a 5-year-old? He looked a little younger for his age, and his demeanor didn’t seem to match other 17-year-olds Yamato’s age. Maybe the trick was to get him to trust him by making him view the ghost in a pleasant manner? After all, he had the uniform and everything too! From an outside perspective, without the levitating and hovering, Taichi seemed to be an average, ordinary boy.

“ _Hello? Earth to Yamato_?” waved Taichi, trying to get Yamato’s attention. “ _You ready to go?_ ” softly said the boy, offering his hand to the blonde.

It was calloused, with wear and tear at parts ofhis fingertips, and bandaids adorned his knuckles and littered his wrists. How odd. Maybe he played a sport? What sport needed that many bandages? Maybe he was a wrestler? Although the ghost piqued Yamato’s interest and stimulated his scientific and intellectual curiosity, self preservation was more important right now.

What if this was all a trick, and once he grabbed the ghost’s hand, he would disintegrate or the boy would reveal his true form and unhinge his jaws like a snake and swallow Yamato whole? Was that even possible? Yamato’s head was spinning and throbbing; he couldn’t come to a logical conclusion and it was frustrating him to no end. Nothing about this situation made sense! 

Shaking his head, Yamato snapped out of his daze. He hesitantly inched forward, before taking his hand back, ready to question the ghastly boy once again.

“ _Ya-ma-to! You big baby. Say no more,_ ” muttered Taichi, before he instinctively put a finger to Yamato’s lips, before gingerly grabbing Yamato’s hand. 

Wait, when did he even tell Taichi his name? He swore that he didn’t even introduce himself or anything... Was the ghost able to see through him with x-ray vision or read his mind? What if he was able to read his past and future? The possibilities were endless.

Then, all of the sudden, Yamato felt the ground beneath him shift, and he found himself off the ground. At first, he thought it was an earthquake or some strange hallucination, but he looked at the room around him in amazement. He really was floating!

Then, the pits of his stomach dropped, and he felt the instinctual need to heave out the contents in his stomach. He never was the best with heights or any balancing acts. He wasn’t exactly the daredevil type, you see.

“ _Hold on tight,_ ” said the brunette, lacing Yamato’s arms around his waist to secure the blonde. 

Looping his arms around Taichi’s torso, he realized how thin the boy actually was. He could practically join his fingertips together around his waist just by pressing his hands around the boy’s frame.

Then, faster than any bird or insect in flight, the two found themselves in a junkyard, with disassembled playground parts and miscellaneous items scattered about. 

“ _Taichi, what are we doing here? We’re never going to find a ball here. We could literally just go to the store and buy one instead..._ ” said Yamato, clearly done at this point.

“ _You don’t understand! It’s really important to me!_ ” insisted the ghoul, who was then haphazardly looking through the scattered about items. 

“ _What could be so important that you’re willing to sift through garbage for it?_ ” questioned the blonde, with his patience growing thin. 

He had things to do! He was supposed to go to class for goodness sake. He had something important to do, but collapsing upon encountering Taichi threw him off. Yamato then checked his phone and realized something. His physics midterm was supposed to start in an hour! 

Tapping his foot, Yamato then said, “ _The ball is probably flat at this point! It’s more practical to just buy one from the store and get this over with so I can go back to school to prep for my exam_ ,” said Yamato.

_“Well, it’s just really important to me! It’s irreplaceable, okay!_ ” responded the ghost, displeased that Yamato was already rushing him even though they had just gotten to their destination. Observing the boy, Yamato noticed how anxious and jumpy Taichi now seemed. Weird. This didn’t seem like the overly candid and sarcastic boy he had just met earlier hovering above him. He seemed like a small child, frantically searching for a beloved blanket or teddy bear.

Yamato stared at him, then let out a loud groan. “ _Fine! It’ll probably be a lot faster if I helped you then, since it’s not like you can even touch the things anyway. Could you conjure up a pair of gloves and a mask for me? This place stinks and I don’t want to end up catching anything while going through this dump.”_

Snorting, Taichi let out a chuckle, “ _Who do you think I am? The genie from Aladdin? You really think you can get 3 wishes as you please? No, I cannot do that. I wish I could, but I can’t. You have to just deal with it and wash your hands later.”_

“ _Really? Damn. Well I won’t be able to be as efficient then, since this seems kinda unhygienic and unsanitary. You can’t get me to get your ball for you, if I end up getting cut and contracting tetanus, now can you_?” drawled off Yamato, at this point negotiating with the former. If he played his cards right, they would be able to get back to campus on time, and he wouldn’t get grilled by his teacher and fail the class by missing the exam. It was worth 40 percent of his grade, for god’s sake! Besides, maybe he could talk some sense into Taichi and convince him to get a new ball. Sure, Taichi looked upset, and Yamato felt bad. However, Yamato was still apprehensive whether it was possible to even find the ball in-tact at this point.

“ _Hm. I guess that’s true. It would be a waste if you just kneeled over and died,_ ” said Taichi, with a puzzled look on his face. “ _But, if you want to get back on time to school, you should do as you’ve been told for the time being! I’m the one who dragged you to the nurse’s office, after all! Carrying people saps my energy, and we could get this done if you pulled your weight too_ ,” responded Taichi, visibly growing more agitated. 

“ _Fine. Only because it’s to repay the favor. You better leave me alone once this is all over,_ ” grumbled the blonde. 

“ _Sure, deal,”_ muttered the brunette, with a hint of disappointment it seemed? 

God, he was stubborn and Yamato’s attempts to dissuade the boy’s worries were not working. Sighing, he cursed under his breath and began going through the items on the ground. This was going to take forever. 

After several deflated balls and broken sports equipment later, Yamato asked again, sighing, “ _Why is this ball so important to you?”_

With shifty eyes and a cracked voice, Taichi finally admitted, saying, “ _It’s the last thing I remember. I think I got it as a gift from my family before I died_ ,” clutching at his own arms and wrists, with evident discomfort.

Oh. Yamato didn’t consider that.

“ _And besides, you’re the first person I’ve been able to actually converse with in years. Probably since I passed away... Since I can’t really touch things, I couldn’t exactly go through my personal information documents. Whenever I touch things, either they get scattered about or nothing happens. Besides from my name and the ball, and vaguely my sister, I don’t remember much_ ,” stated the brunette, looking in the opposite direction, crouching and bending downwards to look around for the coveted object. 

Well, that changes everything. Now, Yamato felt like an absolute dick for not actually trying to help the boy, regardless that he was a spirit. Whatever. He could honestly probably reschedule the test and show that he indeed tried to come to school but ended up in the nurse’s office. 

“ _What does it look like?_ ” said Yamato, with a tad bit of remorse.

“ _It’s a soccer ball with the signature from my favorite soccer player. I don’t remember their name, but I do know that it was a special gift. My sister got it for me, when we went to watch the game with one of my friends_ ,” explained the brunette, with a hint of bittersweetness in his words. 

“ _Have you been able to see your sister or family at all?_ ” asked Yamato. Maybe it was a little inappropriate, given the sensitivity of the topic, but Yamato’s curiosity was getting the best of him. How old was Taichi actually? How did he pass away in the first place when he looked so young? Sure he was a little demanding, but he couldn’t help but be a little charmed by the former.

“ _I have actually, but my hands passed through them. They couldn’t see me_ ,” mustered up Taichi, exasperated. Waving his arms around, the tension in his body language and posture indicated to Yamato how stressed out the ghost must have been.

“ _I’m sorry, that must have been difficult_ ,” said Yamato.

_“It is...You seriously don’t have to pity me though, it’s been a long time. I’m fine! See? And besides, since I was able to make contact with you, it’s not impossible to communicate with humans again after all!_ ” beamed the boy, flashing a toothy grin once again to reassure the blonde.

Yamato didn’t believe him. Still, he couldn’t force the boy to reply honestly and be vulnerable around him. He couldn’t even do that with his childhood friends or his bandmates. Even now, he still has a hard time articulating his feelings and communicating with Takeru, his little brother. When all the emotions would bubble up in Yamato’s chest, the best thing he can do in the moment is to not stick his foot up his mouth and accidentally not offend someone. All he could do in this moment, was listen.

“ _Anyway, we should return back to school. Thanks for helping me, even though it seemed like a lost cause,_ ” laughed the boy, unable to hide his obvious disappointment.

“ _Okay_ ,” replied Yamato, at a loss, not knowing what to say. Surprisingly, he somehow made it to his midterm exam on time and it was graded immediately after he turned it in. He ended up doing pretty well on the test. 

Even when he was transported back to the classroom, Yamato couldn’t get the brunette off his mind. He seemed so cheerful and obnoxiously giddy at times. Yet, he seemed so lost and forlorn at the same time. Normally, Yamato minded his own business, but he couldn’t help but feel drawn to the boy.

—

For weeks, and eventually months, Yamato did not see the brunette. It almost seemed like Taichi truly was a figment of his imagination all along, and his fever or unexpected illness caused him to hallucinate or have truly vivid dreams. He couldn’t really bring it up to any of his friends or bandmates; he probably would be shipped off to the nearest mental institution or worse, an exorcist.

In midst of his exam, he noticed a tuft of messy brown hair, before quickly disappearing as soon as it appeared. Looking around and eventually under his desk, Yamato found no sight of the brunette. The teacher was reading his email and paying no attention to the class.

Then, an ear-piercing yell filled the entire classroom. Yamato disrupted class, and no one could see what he was seeing. How embarrassing. He bowed and apologized before returning to his test.

Taichi, the shithead he was, literally raised his hand up, defying science by moving and passing his limbs through Yamato’s desk and his exam papers, only to crouch on his desk at an uncomfortable distance from him. If he was a little closer, he would have locked lips with him and these thoughts made Yamato’s face burn scarlet red.

The brunette stripped him of his dignity and his pride. Honestly, at this point, talking to an “imaginary friend” wasn’t the weirdest thing people witnessed Yamato doing. 

It was no longer Friday the thirteenth, but did Yamato truly ever get any breaks? 

Nope. 

At the same time, Yamato was secretly glad to see the apparition again. Checking the time, he had fifteen to twenty minutes left to finish the remaining parts of his exam. On his scratch paper, Yamato wrote, “ _Where were you_?”

Taichi took his extra pen, and wrote, “ _Why, did you miss me?”_ with a cheeky smirk. 

That bastard. Yamato snorted, quickly scribbling the following, _“In your dreams — if ghosts can even dream still_.”

Smiling, Taichi scrawled out the following, before snapping his fingers and disappearing.

“ _I’ll see you in the courtyard after class!”_ wrote Taichi, with a small happy face and a star. Looking out the window, Yamato laughed quietly then drew his full attention back to his test. 

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to see what the apparition had in store for him. He was nervous but at the same time fascinated. He wondered and anticipated what Taichi wanted to do next or what he was still hiding under that exuberant, bright than a thousands sun, shit-eating grin.

How exciting.

**Author's Note:**

> hehe this will probably stay a oneshot but I hope you all enjoy!! I haven’t written in awhile (I just wrote this in one go last night when I couldn’t sleep lol)... I swear I haven’t abandoned my other fics, it’s just Zoom University kicking my ass ✍️😤
> 
> I got this idea bc of the episode in 02 where Hiroaki comes home in the dub and says “happy little buffalo” and Yamato acts like a bitch about it n runs away when we all know he’s the most terrified
> 
> in other news though, I have a tablet now so I’ll be drawing more often!! thank goodness now i won’t be at as high risk for carpal tunnel...i’ll probably upload on my tumblr @jxneun
> 
> hope you all stay safe and healthy ⭐️ pls send me good vibes so i pass my finals with flying colors and get through my 4-5 term papers


End file.
